Loving and Hating
by Steve the Icecube
Summary: Ivypool's life is good. She no longer has the pressure of being a spy on her back, her sister has a mate, and their relationship has never been better. The problem is, a certain ShadowClan tom just keeps messing her day up... But she always comes back to the border to find him... T because it's warriors.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Ilovelotsofstuff won a story as a prize. Here it is!**

**I apologize for any OOC stuff, as I have never read any story with Ivypool in.**

Ivypool POV

I ran from the border, throughly annoyed. That stupid warrior, Starlingwing, thinks he knows everything about ThunderClan! Just because his mentor was a ThunderClan cat once upon a time.

I scared away a mouse in my hurry to leave the border. It was as if his green eyes still burned into my pelt, scolding me about scaring kits again. Simply because I snarled at Sparrowpaw. Well, he isn't a kit now, even if that was his first patrol.

I snarled as I saw something move in the bushes, only to see Dovewing, her blue eyes looking sharply at me. "Scared?" She teased, and I smiled and pounced on her. We play-fought for a few minutes, me finally getting the upper hand.

"Nope!" I said, answering her previous question "Annoyed." I glanced back to the border with ShadowClan.

"With a ShadowClan cat? Not prying, who was it?" I glared at her. She already knew.

"You know, Dovewing. Just admit it."

"Fine! Just ignore Starlingwing. He likes winding you up. He's said so a few times." She grinned. Dovewing uses her power very openly now, as she doesn't use it to save the Clans.

"Dovewing! Hey, Dovewing, there you are!" Came a voice from the other side of a bush, as Bumblestripe stepped out into the clearing. "Am I interrupting something?" He asked politely, looking at us.

"No, it's fine, Bumblestripe. What did you want?"

"Some cat called Brook or something wanted you."

**AN: Yes, very short. Yes, incredibly badly written. But it's a start, right?**


	2. Chapter 2: What has ThunderClan become?

**AN: Hey, thanks for the reviews!**

**I've never read anything past The New Prophecy, so characters may be out of character...**

Dovewing POV

I sprinted back to camp, my heart pounding with excitement. _Brook is back! _It seemed too good to be true. I wonder if Stormfur and their kits are here, too.

When I reached camp, I was surprised at the sight that met my eyes. Stormfur and Brook were standing tail to tail over two bodies of kits. It was plain that they were dead. One was a pale brown tabby with a short tail. _Lark! _And the other was a skinny looking brown kit. _Pine! _The two kits were dead, dried blood on their fur that looked days old at least.

"What happened?" I gasped, running into the hollow. Brook looked up, her eyes sad.

"We'll tell everyone later. Now, please, Bramblestar, could you get your warriors to leave us alone? Or would you rather we leave?" Bramblestar looked upon the scene cooly. He'd been so distant since he got his nine lives. One of those cold, ambitious leaders.

After a tiny mistake at the WindClan border, he'd replaced Squirrelflight with Birchfall as deputy. He was much more likely to lead the Clan into a fight.

Leafpool had been seen talking slightly more than just friends and cats in different Clans to Crowfeather, she was banished.

Dustpelt had died when Bramblestar forced him into battle.

The Clans were at war.

"Leave now, Brook and Stormfur. And take that filthy crowfood with you!" He snarled. I couldn't believe it. These cats were his friends.

Brook was sobbing quietly, and Stormfur looked distraught. They picked up the bodies of their kits and left camp. Bramblestar sent Foxleap, Berrynose and Seedpaw to escort them off ThunderClan territory.

The Clan didn't do anything.

What has this Clan become?


	3. Chapter 3: Meet me by the border

I kicked leaves up from the ground.

Over the last few days, laeves had started falling from the trees, and the forest was turned red and brown, and not just by leaves.

There had been a border spat with ShadowClan earlier that day. Bramblestar had started it, by putting a marker nearly a fox-length into the border with a ShadowClan patrol right there. Lionblaze had been on the patrol, and had told me that it was blatantly Bramblestar's fault.

I caught a scent of ShadowClan. A single scent. Was an intruder coming back, or simply being a bit too close to the border?

I looked up. Oh StarClan.

It was Starlingwing.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Oh, so polite. I'm hunting, Ivypool. I didn't cross the border, so you don't need to blow up on me." He mewed smoothly, licking his whiskers.

"Fine! Go and do your stupid hunting. _I _don't want to fight anyone right now."

He turned tail, looking over his shoulders at me. His whiskers were twitching, and he smiled at me.

"Meet me at the border, moonhigh?" He asked hopefully.

"Sure."


	4. Chapter 4: How to Sneak Out

I felt nervous and terribly guilty about going to see Starlingwing.

I mean, I don't even like him as a friend, but I still accepted to go and meet him. I don't know why.

And I have no idea at all on how I'm going to get out of camp at night. For some reason, probably for the prevention of cats sneaking out at night to meet a cat from another Clan, Bramblestar had put two guards on camp.

I decided to talk to Dovewing about how she used to see Tigerheart without anyone knowing. But I wouldn't tell her about going to see Starlingwing. Because that would just be stupid. I'm still not sure if Dovewing would keep a secret like that from Lionblaze and Jayfeather. She told all my secrets to them a long time ago, anyway.

I padded back into camp, and I was glad that no strange sight like dead Tribe kits met my eyes again. The scent of Stormfur and Brook still lingered in the air, but everyone was acting like nothing had ever happened.

They were sitting around in groups, sharing tongues and prey as normal. Cloudtail and Brightheart were watching their kits, who were playing moss ball just outside the nursery.

Squirrelflight was looking towards Bramblestar's den, obviously desracted from her conversation with Jayfeather about something or other. Jayfeather got up with an exasperated sigh and left to share prey with Lionblaze.

Dovewing was sharing tongues with Bumblestripe, but when she saw me, she finished, smiling at her mate and padding over to me.

"Do you want to share prey?" Dovewing mewed.

"Yes, thanks." I replied, grabbing a sparrow from the fresh kill pile.

We sat down and started eating.

"Dovewing, I know it's kind of a sore subject, but how did you meet with Tigerheart?"

Dovewing sighed. "I always went through the dirtplace tunnel. It left me stinking, but it covered my scent well enough. And I'd generally roll in some wild garlic on the way back from meeting him. Why did you want to know?"

"Well, you didn't like me following you, and I can understand why. I guess I just wanted to be able to stop you if you do it again." I joked, taking a bite from the sparrow.

Dovewing let out a mrrow of laughter. "Well, I love Bumblestripe, so no chance."


	5. Chapter 5: Not That Valued

**Ivypool**

As the sun set, my heart leapt in my throat. I felt mildly sick, but I knew that it wasn't anything I could or should go to Jayfeather about. It wasn't an illness, nor had I eaten bad prey.

I was just very, very nervous.

Nervous about meeting a tom I hardly knew, and didn't even like. I _shouldn't _like him. He's a tom from another Clan. It would be bad enough if I was meeting, say, Olivenose, but I'm not meeting her. I'm meeting a tom, and that makes it all the worse and makes it much more likely that I'll get in trouble with my Clanmates. I was treading on a thin line with Bramblestar already, what with not actively supporting his choices as a leader.

I knew I was getting cold paws. Well, figuratively, anyway. Not actually, because I was sitting on my paws, leaving them slightly warm. I didn't even know _why _I'd agreed to meet Starlingwing. He was just another ShadowClan warrior, who had a very annoying habit of trying to annoy me. And worst of all, he usually succeeded, so I don't like border patrols on the ShadowClan side of ThunderClan territory anymore. I used to, because I had, admittedly, had a small crush on Tigerheart when I was an apprentice.

But I did, just a little, want to have a little adventure. I wanted to be the warrior who was just a little more special than her Clanmates.

And though I knew that it didn't end well last time, not at all, what with the Dark Forest and spying and everything else, I want to be special. I want to have a friend I shouldn't, even if I don't like the tom I'm going to be meeting, I know that he did really want to meet me, and for a moment I had really wanted to meet him, so I'd agreed.

The first stars of Silverpelt were starting to show in the sky, twinkling down warmly on ThunderClan camp. Does that mean that they're happy with the way that ThunderClan is being led? The other Clans would probably respect them more now that they had a leader who wasn't a former kittypet, no matter how unfair I think that is, to have a bias like that, I know that the other Clans, at least some of the cats in them, did think that.

It was starting to get cold, and Graystripe, Dustpelt, Millie and Sandstorm had already gone into the elder's den. The cats had become elders very soon after Firestar had died and Bramblestar was showing a few cruel tendencies. I think that they didn't want to be accused of being old and inept, which for warrior duties, they were starting to be.

I sighed and looked over to Dovewing, who had moved away from me now, after we had finished the sparrow, and had gone back over to her mate. Though I knew I shouldmn't, I felt a small pang of jealousy for my sister's perfect life, with a mate who loved her for more than her power and what she did to save the Clans, an incredible power, the trust and admiration of cats from her own and other Clans, her hunting ability, and so on.

Me? I'm just another new warrior. I used to be a traitor. That's all. Nothing more, nothing less. Just another Clanmate, a cat how just isn't as amazing as her sister, nor as beautiful as her mother, or brave as her father.

The light faded, and I went into the warrior's den, curling up in my nest, which now seemed so isolated without Dovewing's next to it. She'd moved to sleep with Bumblestripe.

Warriors kept coming in, stepping over me to get to their own nests. I waited until everyone's chests were rising and falling slowly, and sat up quietly. Fortunately, I'm not considered important enough to have a nest far away from the den entrance, so I didn't disturb anyone on my way out of the den. I tread softly on my way out of camp.

There were two guards as usual, tonight it was Cloudtail and Birchfall. Their backs shone pale in the moonlight, and I crept quietly towards the dirtplace, not wanting to disturb them. A thorn branch snagged my pelt as I made my way out, and I hissed quietly in pain, but darted into the dirtplace before either of the guards turned round. I heard Cloudtail mutter something to Birchfall, but I was already speeding away, towards the ShadowClan border and further, until finally, when I stopped for breath, the abandoned twoleg nest towered above me.

I took a deep breath and scented the air. Starlingwing wasn't quite here yet, so I entered the den and sat down on a soft-ish piece of material.


End file.
